Christmas sure snuck up on me this year. For some reason, I thought I had more time to figure out what to make for our family gathering. With just a few days to grocery shop and prep, I’ve settled on keeping it simple. The current plan is to bake a Dutch apple pie – aside from that, I’m improvising.
If you’re in the same boat but need to cook something special for the holidays, here’s an idea: Focus your efforts on one show-stopping dish, like Claire Saffitz’s creamy greens pie with baked eggs. In her words, “It has everything you want in a meal.”
Creamy greens pie with baked eggs is decadent, but I can’t think of a better way to get your fill of dark leafy veggies. The all-butter crust is incredible, and the flavor of the spinach, kale and chard really shines through. Bonus points for the beautiful presentation, too.
Recipe adapted from Dessert Person.
Creamy Greens Pie with Baked Eggs
Makes 1 10" pie
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, divided
- 5-6 tablespoons ice water
Filling:
- 1 pound fresh spinach
- 8 cups loosely packed torn lacinato kale leaves
- 8 cups loosely packed torn red chard leaves
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 shallots, finely diced
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more, to taste
- ¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more, to taste
- 6 large eggs
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill, plus more for garnish
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- olive oil, for finish
Instructions
Prepare the crust:
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt.
- Cut 5 tablespoons butter into small pieces and rub it into the flour mixture with your fingertips until it resembles coarse meal. Cut remaining 5 tablespoons butter into ⅛"-thick slices and gently rub it into the flour mixture with your fingertips until it resembles very coarse meal.
- Add 5 tablespoons water and mix with a fork. If it is crumbly, add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the ingredients start to come together. Then use your hands to lightly knead the dough in the bowl until it forms a ball. Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and pat into a rectangle about ¾" thick. Wrap dough and chill until firm, about 2 hours or overnight.
- After the dough has chilled, turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll out dough to a ¼"-thick rectangle. Fold into thirds, like a business letter. Wrap dough in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 days.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. On a lightly floured work surface, roll it out to a 14" circle. Carefully transfer the dough to a 10" cast iron skillet, pressing it against the bottom and sides. Use a sharp knife to trim excess dough and prick all over with a fork. Transfer the crust to the refrigerator.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Line the chilled crust with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and pie weights or dried beans. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 15 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and set aside.
Prepare the filling:
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add spinach and cook, stirring occasionally, until bright green, 1-2 minutes. Use tongs to remove spinach from water and place in a colander; rinse with cold water, drain well and squeeze to remove excess moisture. Add kale to boiling water and cook, stirring occasionally, until bright green, about 2 minutes. Use tongs to remove kale from water and place in a colander; rinse with cold water, drain well and squeeze to remove excess moisture. Add chard to boiling water and cook, stirring occasionally, until bright green, about 2 minutes. Use tongs to remove chard from water and place in a colander; rinse with cold water, drain well and squeeze to remove excess moisture. Finely chop spinach, kale and chard and set aside.
- In a large fry pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add chopped greens, salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and let cool slightly.
- In another large bowl, combine 1 egg, heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, dill and nutmeg; whisk until smooth. Add prepared greens mixture and stir to combine.
Assemble and bake the pie:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Transfer the filling to the prepared crust and smooth evenly with an offset spatula. Using the back of a tablespoon, create five indentations in the filling. Carefully crack an egg into each indentation. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Bake until egg whites are set but yolks are still runny, 25-30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, drizzle with olive oil and garnish with dill. Let sit for 15 minutes before serving.
